Swimming garment construction



April 30, 1957 c. D. CUNNINGHAM 2,790,175

SWIMMING GARMENT CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 8, 1954 INVENTOR. C44emc DAV/D Cum/w/m/ew/w United States Patent SWIMMING GARMENT CONSTRUCTION Clarence David Cunningham, Corona Del Mar, Calif.

Application November 8, 1954, Serial No. 467,357

1 Claim. (Cl. 267) This invention relates to improvements in garment construction and particularly to improvements in swimming or bathing garments made of fabric material adapted to hang loosely on the body, the fabric being relatively impervious to air passage therethrough when wet.

Modern bathing and swimming costumes, both for men and women, customarily include trunks conventionally provided with a snug fitting waistband and an inner member extending through the crotch and frequently around the upper portion of the thighs, as well as a loose fitting outer fabric memberincluding folds of material loosely depending from the waistband about the wearers hips and upper thighs. The material of which the garment is made, particularly the outer member falling loosely downwardly from the waistband, is conventionally made of textile fabric which, when wet, is very resistant to the passage of air therethrough. As a consequence, ncrrnal movements in the water such as jumping thereinto and splashing about therein frequently result in the entrapment of a substantial quantity of air within the loose fitting folds of the garment below the waistband. Because of the relative irnpermeability of the fabric to air when wet, the air is entrapped for an appreciable period of time causing grotesqueness of appearance and consequent embarrassment to the wearer.

By the construction disclosed herein the above disadvantages are eliminated. According to the presently preferred construction of the present invention, one or more air vents or breather holes are provided in the upper portion of the folds of the outer member of the garment, the vent holes being spaced somewhat below the snug fitting waistband. The vent holes are of small enough size to eliminate any problem of improper exposure of the body, and the holes are preferably formed by means preventing weakening or other damage to the garment as a whole.

An object of the present invention is, therefore, to disclose a novel swimming garment construction.

Another object of the invention is to disclose, in the construction of swimming or bathing garments made of loose fitting fabric which is air impermeable when wet, the provision of air vent means in the upper portion of such fabric.

A further object of the invention is to provide air vent means in a loosely fitting swimming garment so arranged as to minimize entrapment of air within the garment in use.

These and other and allied objects and purposes of the invention will become clear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a front view of a man standing in Water substantially Waist high wearing a conventional swimming garment exhibiting the disadvantages which it is the principal object of the present invention to eliminate.

Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of a pair of swimming trunks similar to those shown in Fig. 1 except embodying the present invention, the trunks including a 2 waistband, an inner skin-tight member extending downwardly from the waistband and an outer loosely fitting member also extending downwardly from the waistband, a portion of the inner member in the rear being broken away to show an air vent in the outer member, and another vent being shown in dotted outline.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale 'of the upper portionrof a swimming garment such as that shown in Fig. 2, including a preferred construction of an air vent opening.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV--IV 0 Fig. 3.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, in Fig. 1 there is shown a man indicated generally at 10 wearing a conventional swimming garment indicated generally at 12, and standing in water 14 at approximately the level of the mans waist. The conventional garment 12 may include an inner member 21 (see Fig. 2) providing snug fitting portions about the crotch and upper thighs of the user and attached to and supported by a snug fitting waistband 20. There is also an outer garment member attached to waistband 20 including fabric portions 22 loosely depending downwardly fror'nthewaistband. The

fabric portions 22 are normally formed with a pair of leg openings 24 and 26 and with a transversely extending closed crotch portion 28 therebetween.

In the case of the man depicted in Fig. 1, it may be assumed that he has just moved downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 1, either by entering feet first into the water or by jumping up and down in the water. In either event, a substantial quantity of air has become entrapped within the folds of the outer garment 22 and has been forced upwardly by its buoyancy into an upwardly bulging torus 30 which may extend virtually completely around the waist of the man 10 immediately adjacent the waistband 20. Not only is this torus 30 of unattractive and grotesque appearance, but also the air therein has a tendency to tickle or otherwise annoy the user by its presence within the garment.

The disadvantages graphically shown and described in connection with Fig. 1 are virtually eliminated by the construction of the present invention as illustratively depicted in Fig. 2. The pair of trunks there shown may be identical in major respects to those of Fig. 1, with the addition of the novel construction constituting the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2, one or more air vents indicated generally at 40 are provided in the outer garment portion 22, spaced slightly below the snug fitting waistband 20. It will be readily understood that no air vents need be provided in the inner tight fitting member 21 of the garment since this latter portion is skintight and therefore provides no possibility of air entrapment between itself and the wearers body.

The individual air vents 40 are desirably formed as shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4. As there appears, a small grommet member 42 is provided in the depending foldable portion of the garment member 22, the grommet 42 having a circular opening 43 and provided with an outwardly directed circumferential channel 44 for gripping an annular portion 46 of the garment fabric 22. The individual grommets 42 may be made of any suitable material such as light metal, relatively rigid plastic or the equivalent, and the grommets may be applied to the garment by means well known in the art.

In operation it will be readily understood that air entrapped within the loose folding portions 22 of the outer garment member will, when the wearer is in the water, tend to move upwardly within the folds of the garment because of the buoyancy of air and will be vented through the openings 43 of the vents 40. It is true, of course, that the normal'fabric usedfor swimming trunks of the type under discussion is not permanently impervious to air passage therethrough when wet, but it is equally true that such air passage takes place at a very 'slow rate so that the wearer 10 may be subjected to the embarrassment and discomfort of the air-filled torus 30 for an appreoiable period of time unless theconstruction according to the'present invention is employed. a

Air vents 40 may be of any desired size and number. In a typical construction the opening 43 may be from one eighth to three eighths inch in diameter, and four may be used, disposed substantially as shown in Fig. 2. The location of the vents may be widely varied with, of course, proper regard for decency, and each vent may be from one half inch to several inches below the waistband20. 'H W Accordingly it will be seen that there is here provided a novel andeifective construction by which to eliminate a bothersome feature of conventional swimming costumes having downwardly depending loosely fitting folds of fabric relatively impervious to air when wet. it is to be especially noted that grommets or equivalent air vent openings, within the contemplation of the present invention, can be not only incorporated in new swimming garments during manufacture but also may be used to modify existing garments in a simple and facile manner. Modifications and changes from the specific preferred form of the invention he'reinabove shown and described will occur to those skilled in the art and are within my contemplation. All such modifications and changes not departing from the spirit of the invention are intended to be embraced within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A swimming garment including a snug-fitting waistband, an inner skin-tight member adapted to fit the Wearers crotch and extend upwardly therefrom to the waistband and be supported thereby, and an outer member including loosely fitting hip and upper thigh portions and a transverse crotch portion between the thigh portions, said outer member being connected to and depending in loose folds from the waistband and being made of textile fabric material relatively impervious to air passage therethrough when wet, the upper portion of said outer member being provided with a plurality of air vents therethrough spaced circumferentially about the fabric and below the waistband.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,473,500 Mowrer Nov. 6, 1923 2,185,527 Spanel Jan. 2, 1940 2,241,812 Gowdy May 13, 1941 2,348,113 Solomon Sept. 12, 1944 2,483,076 Vacca Sept. 27, 1949 

